Third Indian teenager attacked and burned in a week

BBC
12th May, 2018 12:00:57

A teenage girl in India has been raped and burned alive by her attacker - the third instance of such an attack in the same week.

The 16-year-old girl died after being soaked in fuel and set on fire at her home in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh.

Police said she was killed after telling her attacker she would inform her family about the rape.

Two other similar attacks, one fatal, took place in Jharkhand this week.

A 17-year-old girl remains in critical condition after being set on fire by a suspect who allegedly said he wanted to marry the victim, but had been rejected.

The earlier case involved a 16-year-old who was burned alive after her parents complained to village elders about her rape. The accused had been ordered to do sit-ups and pay a fine as punishment, prompting them to beat the girl's parents and kill her.

In the most recent attack, the victim was at home alone in Jujharpur village when she was attacked. Police said they had arrested a suspect, named as 28-year-old Ravi Chadhar.

Widespread outrage

India is facing renewed public outrage over the number of violent sexual assaults in the country.

BBC India correspondent Soutik Biswas recently wrote that "rape is increasingly used as an instrument to assert power and intimidate the powerless in India".

Recent public anger over sexual assaults was sparked by the rape and murder of an eight-year old girl in January.

The girl, a member of a Muslim nomadic tribe, was found dead in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Eight Hindu men were arrested, and there was an outcry when two ministers from the Hindu BJP party attended a rally in support of the accused. In April, Hindu right-wing groups staged protests over the arrests.

Another BJP politician has also been accused of raping a 16-year-old girl - a charge he denies.

Public outrage over sexual violence in India rose dramatically after the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.

Four of the accused were given a death sentence, recently upheld on appeal, and the case led to new anti-rape laws.